Does Latin have a soft 'c'?
It looks... complicated. From what I can see, in the entry for canker, it does initially enter as 'cancer' (c1000), then changes to cauncre and kankir etc over the middle ages. I think they decide to put the 1601 medical 'cancer' spelling separately, under 'cancer', because it's Renaissance humanism at work, reviving/correcting spellings, medical knowledge. Not sure though.
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 16:50 (thirteen years ago) link
internet says canker is from cancer.
― Quantic Dream, So Hard To Beat (Will M.), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 16:52 (thirteen years ago) link
shoulda said xp.
And then there's chancre
― tom d: he did what he had to do now he is dead (Tom D.), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 16:53 (thirteen years ago) link
apparently taken from the French, 1605.
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 17:12 (thirteen years ago) link
Is the US contain the largest country (population-wise) with the most homogenous language?
this is kind of random but I was wondering about this last night - I would think China would be the other big contender but I dunno how Mandarin dialects break down, really. Russia is obviously larger geographically but smaller in terms of population. Everywhere else in the world it seems like you have a way wider range of various dominant languages, and within smaller geographical areas.
But in the US - prominent immigrant communities notwithstanding - it seems kind of unique that anywhere you go American English is the lingua franca. We have accents, sure, but not dialects that are appreciably different from one another in terms of grammar, etc. This strikes me as particularly unusual. I was just thinking about this in terms of, say, Europe which is comparatively tiny but still riven with all these (to me, anyway) rather comical ethnic divisions, most obviously different languages, etc.
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 18:50 (twelve years ago) link
I think the answer to your question is yes. I don't have a good understanding of the differences among Chinese languages (interesting map here), but I think it's safe to say the US is a great deal more homogenous language-wise. I think Brazil is probably second.
― rob, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 19:05 (twelve years ago) link
I think
why is "not applicable" abbreviated as "n/a"?
avoids possible confusion with 'no', among other things
― Aimless, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 19:10 (twelve years ago) link
Why is it that humans can learn English (better to give and example of a language than to just say something vague like “language”)? Other animals can learn to communicate verbally or learn symbols. The difference with English is, it’s a lot more complex than the chirps of a chickadee. Then to say “language is innate” or “language is an instinct” could be said of any animal that communicates with other animals in it’s species. Communication may be instinctual but I think something like the English language is a grand elaboration on communication that humans are capable of due to our sizable cerebral cortex. So, like many human behaviors, it is both innate and learned.
― Violet Jax (Violet Jynx), Wednesday, 24 May 2017 16:41 (seven years ago) link
norm chompsky meets his match
― mark s, Wednesday, 24 May 2017 16:48 (seven years ago) link
norm chompsky deserves it
― The Remoans of the May (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 24 May 2017 16:57 (seven years ago) link
gnome chompsky
― i n f i n i t y (∞), Wednesday, 24 May 2017 17:34 (seven years ago) link
chomp on that !!
― Violet Jax (Violet Jynx), Thursday, 25 May 2017 14:28 (seven years ago) link
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51o5e6VpvJL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
― leprechaundriac (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 25 May 2017 15:01 (seven years ago) link
I can't stop laughing at the name Nim Chimpsky
― Godzilla vs. Rodan Rodannadanna (The Yellow Kid), Tuesday, 8 March 2011 02:51 (six years ago) Permalink
― Screamin' Jay Gould (The Yellow Kid), Thursday, 25 May 2017 20:15 (seven years ago) link
"When Terrace ended the experiment, Nim was transferred back to the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, where he struggled to adapt after being trained to live as a human child [clarification needed] for the first decade of his life. When Terrace made his one and only visit to see Nim after a year at the Institute of Primate Studies, Nim sprung to Terrace immediately after seeing him, visibly shaking with excitement. Nim also showed the progress he had made during Project Nim, as he immediately began conversing in sign language with Terrace. Nim retreated back to a depressed state after Terrace left, never to return to see Nim again. Nim developed friendships with several of the workers at the Institute of Primate Studies, and learned a few more signs, including a sign named "stone" which indicated that Nim wanted to smoke marijuana"
― Violet Jax (Violet Jynx), Thursday, 25 May 2017 20:18 (seven years ago) link
I found he could make the alarmingly human signs
Apple eatsEat banana neemBananas eatDrink with me with neemCome eat nimEat with me eatEat me neemMade neem ban neemBananas and meBananas and neem meThey have eaten bananasDrink to enjoy neemDrink drink to drinkBaby to eat meI eat moreI'm eatingI am mechanical rubberEat neem to eat atI play a nimFree me for the NIM game
― Violet Jax (Violet Jynx), Thursday, 25 May 2017 20:25 (seven years ago) link